We just returned from a wonderful trip to Florida and while all the memories are fresh on my mind, I want to make sure I save all my memories in one spot.

If you are looking for a fun getaway from the cold temperatures, I highly recommend Florida this time of year. The weather was perfect and the company was even better! Here are the details of a great trip:

Airline:

We always try to fly on Southwest. Recently, they came out with some great discounted flights and that is when the vacation planning started! We were able to fly direct from Dallas to Tampa for less than $200 for both of us! We never seem to go wrong when we fly Southwest. We even had to make an adjustment once we changed our itinerary and they made this switch so effortlessly. I highly recommend this airline!

First stop:

Our first stop after landing in Tampa was Clearwater Beach. It was a beautiful drive from the airport and I was bouncing in my seat with that first view of the Gulf waters! We stayed at the Wyndham Grand and it did not disappoint! We were greeted with valet drivers and bellmen and checked in without any problem. The hotel is directly on the beach. It has a great hotel bar and a fabulous pool and hot tub. It also has a spa, but we didn’t take advantage of that. I would recommend that you book a Gulf view room…it is definitely worth the extra $20 for a fabulous view of the water!

Immediately, we wanted to walk out to the white sands and put our toes in the water! It was a little chilly as the sun went down, but we were able to catch a perfect sunset!

That evening, we walked along the marina and saw all the fishing boats as they came in from a long day at sea. We saw some great boat tours and plenty of choices in restaurants along the pier. We ate outside at Salt Water Fish Camp where we had peel and eat shrimp and raw oysters (yuck! Only the hubs eat those slimy things!)

The next day, we went to the Tampa RV show where they literally had thousands of campers on display along with all kinds of gadgets that you could put in your RV. We had a great time looking at all the latest and greatest, but decided we liked our camper the best because it is paid for! LOL

When we got back to the hotel, we laid out on the beach and caught a couple of hours of sun before heading out for dinner at the Bait House where you can sit outside and watch all kinds of boats drive by. The birds also loved perching on the pier to watch you eat your dinner. I chose the Drunken Shrimp (no worries, no alcohol was involved!) and hubby ate raw oysters again.

Second Stop:

We reluctantly packed up our bags (we hated leaving this area) and drove down to Fort Myers, Florida. The drive was beautiful and we had some great conversations along the way! You can never go wrong when you get to spend uninterrupted time with the one you love! We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express/Sanibel Gateway location. The hotel was a typical Holiday Inn. It was nice and clean, had a typical hotel breakfast that was included and the rooms were spacious. The hotel manager was a big help and recommended several things to do.

That evening, we drove over to Naples and enjoyed the “More than Hors D’oeuvres” cruise with the Naples Princess. It was a two hour tour that took you out into the beautiful neighborhood with million dollar homes and multi-million dollar yachts. The captain gave us lots of interesting facts about the area and we enjoyed some delicious food while watching the gorgeous sunset! It was a fabulous night!!!

The next day was one of my favorite adventures! We decided to drive down to Everglade City and take an airboat tour of alligator! This was such a fun day and one that I highly recommend. We bought our tickets online at Captain Jack’s Airboat tours. We decided to buy the combo tour and I would recommend that for you as well. We rode an airboat at the first location and only saw one alligator. Did you know alligator love marshmallows? Our captain would throw one in the water and this little guy (well, maybe not so little at 10′ long) would gobble it right up!

After the first stop, we drove to the next location of our combo tour and boarded another airboat. On this tour, we saw lots of alligator. Most of them were laying on the grass enjoying the warm sun. The tour guide taught us so much about alligator and this area of the world. What a great tour! After the boat rides, we were able to enter the animal sanctuary where we saw otters, hundreds of alligators and even a couple of Siberian Tigers! At the end of the tour, we were able to watch an alligator show where a guy was crazy enough to sit on the back of the alligator and open his mouth!

After seeing so many alligator, we decided to stop for a bite to eat at Triad Seafood restaurant. We decided to order some fried alligator tail and it was really yummy!

The waitress told us that they soak the tail in tobasco sauce, but it wasn’t spicey at all. We both thought it tasted a lot like fried shrimp. We also ordered some stone claws that were absolutely delicious dipped in butter.

Before leaving the Fort Myers area, we went across the Sanibel Causeway and were instantly transported to a magical island. This gorgeous island has the most beautiful vegetation and the beach is magnificent. It was covered with seashells! Literally, we walked all along the beach and I was able to pick up the most beautiful shells to bring home! I want to go back sometime and stay on this island.

Final Stop:

After leaving Sanibel Island, we drove back to Tampa and checked into our hotel. We wanted to be close the airport since we had a VERY early morning flight. We stayed at the Hampton Inn-Tampa Airport. Although the people who checked us in were very nice, I would not recommend staying at this hotel. The rooms were extremely small and both nights that we were there, we slept very little because you could hear everything going on in the hallways. The bathroom needed an update and when I dropped my phone charger behind the night stand, I realized how dirty the room really was.

We went downtown to dinner at Harpoon Harry’s and it was delicious! We chose the waitress’ recommendations for dinner – I chose the Gulf Snapper (Pan seared panko crusted Snapper with lobster cream sauce, rice pilaf, asparagus) and hubby chose the Seafood Risotta plate (Half a Grilled Maine Lobster, Sea Scallops, Gulf Shrimp, Parmesan Risotto, Lobster Cream Sauce, Vegetables).

The next day, we headed out to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Los Angeles Rams football game! We had the best time and were able to watch what was possibly Tom Brady’s last game ever (we will see if he actually retires). It was a great game and I’m so glad that the hubs got to do what he loves best – watch football!!!

There was a lot going on outside the stadium before the game started. We were entertained by hula hoop dancers, a juggler and a DJ that kept the beat going and going and going….

After the game, we stopped for some hot wings while we watched the Kansas City Chiefs win an incredible game and then headed back to our hotel. We had to be at the airport at 4:00 the next morning to return our rental car (by the way, Enterprise Rental is the best) and catch our 6:00 am flight back to Dallas.

Overall, this was one of my favorite vacations (I think I say that after every trip) and I highly recommend getting away with your favorite guy for a few days! It is nice to relax, recharge and get reacquainted with each other again! I can’t wait until we get to do it again!